-helping you stay golden, Ponyboy

Posts Tagged ‘MGMT’

So, this is a power-post(BAM!) about a topic I want to bring up here on the world wide internets. Screw hipsters. Sure, they are on the bleeding-edge of what’s cool and hip, but they also stunt their’s and society’s growth in general by letting their actions be dictated by what it means to be a Hipster nowadays.

Being a Hipster nowadays means wearing skinny jeans, ray bahn sunglasses, taking Polaroid pictures, eating at places on the cool streets of town, acting snobby yet socially awkward, listening to obscure bands that you like as long as no one else does, drinking PBR tall boys, riding a fixie, sporting hip ear gauges, and wearing American Eagle solid-color hoodies, among many other classifying things. Now, to me at least, all these things sound slightly cool to do on their own, but then I just think about all of things together, done by one person, then those actions copied by tons and tons and tons of others, and I think about how the world would be, or more over, a town like Portland would be, and it doesn’t sound too appealing. When hipster-ism was first pioneered (whenever some kid decided he liked the idea of counterculture yet realized how being a hippy was far too much work and not very cool today, so decided to model himself after everyone’s soft spot: nostalgia), it was an acceptable thing, albeit awkward and very contrived and pretentious seeming to the outside 90s world, because only a few people were participating in it, weren’t labeled as “cool’ or “hip” or “douchebags” just yet, and just seen as doing their thing.

However, for some reason that’s probably related to our culture becoming an iculture of individualism and ego tripping fools, people decided that this awkward, thick-lensed, coffee swigging man-girl with a bike terrible for hills and enough PBR to fuel a canadian moose hunt, was the new definition of cool. What a joke! They accepted their title as the coolest mothers around and the scene spread like a cold to the minds of developing, impressionable teenagers and 20somethings around the nation. Now, there was a secret army among the people; one of pretentious people who didn’t necessarily do any harm to the world, but were just as much as a drag as just a regular old layman. Everyone following these made-up social rules that were judgmental and shallow, making their own selves be pushed into this shell of chrome retro coolness. So, the end result of all this Hipster-ism was a culture of young people, so determined to “bring the change” or something similar goal, all being something that doesn’t fit quite right, while the handful of people who actually live such a hipster lifestyle are actually mad that there’s so many people making hipster-ism into some yippie-type buzzkill that makes their own life look like that.

So, beyond all the scene-kids who have drifted into hipster-ism and formed their impenetrable sphere of independence, in the center of this swirling madness, lies the people who actually live the “ideal hipster life”, one that I would say is authentic. Real “hipsters”, if you want to call them that, are a much more gentle kind of soul. Not known for the products they subscribe to, or the places they eat or stuff they like, they are known and seen as quite brave type people. They more closely resemble the freedom-fighters of the underground 50s and 60s, trying to live within their own means and on their own terms, in a world that seems to scream at them what to do. Now, here they are, being emulated by the masses, their uniqueness now a standard for coolness, which is quite ironic, but irony is the way of the Hipster.

But what can they do? The thing they do best: keeping being themselves; being honest to who they want to be, not fussing over who wants to be like them or what they could do to be “cooler.” It’s absolutely not about that. Being seen is cool is really quite a tired and used social stigma, and doesn’t have the desired effect of acceptance or betterment that it held before. Now, the cool thing to do is to simply, be. Don’t be held in by tight skinny jeans or the limitations of where a fixie can go. By trying to appear bleeding edge, one’s illusion of being rad is shattered, cause one finds themselves still just another person in the game, nothing changed but their perspective of others and their now-afflicted view of self.

The cool thing to do nowadays is be yourself. Be a folky, be a scene kid, be a biker, whatever. Be proud, but completely headstrong, of everything you are; your opinions, your decisions, the truth of what has happened to you in life to make you who you are, or what you choose to look like. No one’s words or actions have control over what you should be. So, stop trying so hard to be cool, just know that you’re the best person you know (cause you’re the only person you really know), and go forth and shine. Get rid of the knots in your mind and your gut, do those things that before have made you feel uncomfortable (those are just opportunites for you to allow yourself to grow into a more open person) and go and have fun, worry free in the sunshine, before it’s all gone.

So, today’s post will be minimal on my usual sass, I gotta jet outta her soon. Here are some pretty bangin’ tracks. I don’t care how old they are, I know they’re from the last years…. So, saddle up and enjoy these bumpin tracks. If they don’t move you, you are a cold, dark vessel of remorse.

Well, the weekend finally came. This has been an interesting week to say the least, and perhaps I’ll go into details on what that means later. For now, I head down S.F. way to go the Hardly Strictly bluegrass festival… for free! However, before I go, I need to leave you fools something to do, cause god knows what horrid music you’ll try to boogie down to this weekend without me.
Remember, kids, play by the rules, and that you make them! You’re on the pursuit of happiness!

So, from the looks of it, 2010 is going to be one of the biggest years in music in a while. Forces are gathering, bidding their time, and I feel a plethora of musical alchemy building and waiting to be released on us foolish listeners. All of my many, many faithful readers might be thinking “I’ve heard THAT one before… It’s just gonna be another year in music…” and perhaps it is. It always will be, so there’s no point in arguing that. The fact of the matter is that, whether we like it or not, we are gonna be getting a lot of either gold-or-miss material from so many fantastic bands from every which genre. So without further ado, here’s 2010’s HOT LIST, so far:

1) MGMT– Congratulations : Ah, MGMT. How we’ve all waited with fingers crossed and hearts heavy for more of your spiritual guidance. At first, MGMT seemed like a silly band, especially looking back at the pre-MGMT days as the Management and their songs about four winged dinosaurs. However, anyone who’s anyone that has listened to their fantasmical debut Oracular Spectacular, knows that this is a band with outrageous potential. It’s been ages in internet time since they’ve updated anyone, and I believe at this point that they are going for a more mysterious aura; they’re trying to show us that only they can define themselves. The only clues we’ve gotten as to where their music might be heading on the thought-provokingly titled Congratulations have been snippets of just-being-formed songs at concerts and the only official new single since Oracular, “Metanoia.” However, if any of these things are even a slight indication, where the band is headed musicaly, be excited. Be very excited. It sounds like they’re morphing into a Pink Floyd-sounding (but still their own) band, complete with sprawling sounds, random samples, howling harmonies and just as many catchy hooks as ever. Now, don’t get me wrong, the band we’ve all grown to love still has their randomness and unorthodoxy that we’re all so fond of, but they’re allowing themselves to expand as a band where they need it, and I’m very sure they know where they need to step back. Look for Congratulations in the first quarter of 2010.
~METANOIA

2) LCD Soundsystem– Untitled: It’s been far too long since we’ve heard from older then would be expected do-it-all man, James Murphy. He is the driving force behind LCD Soundsystem, which, in all honesty, is the basis of all compare for any electronic album nowadays. I don’t blame him for taking so long to give us loyal fans a snippet, because he does so freaking much, what with being married, being co-founder of DFA Records, and being kinda old. He’s been in bands-a-plenty, produced more then his fair share of solid gold for other bands, almost was a key writer for Seinfeld, and has been DJing for god knows how long. Oh yeah, and he hand crafted the genius that was LCD Soundsystem’s self-titled debut, and the critically acclaimed follow up, Sound of Silver. If for some dumb reason you haven’t heard SoS, go get it right now. Go. I’ll wait. James has been said to been working in LA over the past summer on this album, with rumored song names to be “Why Do You Hate Music?” and “Love in LA”. The new disc should drop early 2010, so keep your ears peeled, you don’t want to miss this one.
~45:33 (Padded Cell Remix)
~ Daft Punk is Playing at my House
~ Someone Great

3) Justice– Untitled: AHHHHHH! FUCKING JUSTICE! After their very creative debut album, Cross, and the following documentary/live album A-Cross The Universe, Justice are ready to come back, and hopefully bigger then ever. As of late, their recent remixes have had the Justice feel, but lacked anything substantially cool- I still enjoyed them, but perhaps it’s only because I’m a fan. They recently sold their soul and remixed for U2’s new album, which was okay, but U2 and Justice should NEVER MIX (You hear me, internet? Good. Take care of it.). However, they probably recieved a huge 6-figure sum to make it, so I can’t blame them for not turning it down. It takes big money to make that big Justice sound. If they can somehow make their ear-rattling sound evolve, without sounding too repetitive or just relying on old tricks, I’m sure their new album will be fine. Not much is known about it yet, really, besides the fact it’s being made, somewhere, with a release date sometime, presumably early 2010.
~Genesis~Electric Feel (Justice Remix)

4)Vampire Weekend– Contra: It’s kinda funny. When Vampire Weekend first hit the scene way back in 2006, it was cool to even know about them. Alas, the blogosphere is a cruel place, and now I’ve met many a weary soul that say they hate Vampire Weekend. Now, I can tell that’s not true, cause when they say that, their eyes glance away and I swear the expression on their faces says “Oh, please forgive me Ezra, I don’t mean it, you know that. You know that no one may know of our undying love! It’s too soon!” Well, rest easier tonight, oh hidden Vampire Weekend lovers, for with the release of Contra, you may proudly start singing all the songs you’ve no doubt completely memorized. Still don’t wanna give in? How about this: when Vampire Weekend first started, they themselves, said that they sucked. They themselves said they didn’t really have massive musical skills, but instead they had an intense longing and drive to make music that came from deep inside them. And it shows in their style. They know how to stretch out the scales just enough to tickle your ear bones, and Ezra Koenig’s voice reaches some very beautiful place, all while sounding very natural. For white kids who grew up in the better parts of America, they sure sound like they might come from Africa, and for being so young, they sure do sound like Paul Simon at times. The new album has not been leaked yet, as opposed to the last which was leaked so early it almost broke the band. The only thing we know at this point is the tracklisting, and the main cover, which this time features a very stoned-looking lady, perhaps the hinted at Contra? Oh, and the mysterious clip, only titled “Contra Teaser.” Though it’s not much to go off of, I like the feeling of it. The album drops January 12th in the U.S. of A.